ZAP and Viva Real merge with major potential to disrupt the real estate industry in Latin America

Two digital real estate market leaders are now part of the same group. The portals ZAP and Viva Real and their companies Geoimovel, suahouse, sub100 and DataZAP will become Grupo ZAP Viva Real

ZAP, a Grupo Globo company, the largest media and communications conglomerate in Latin America, began operations in 2000. The company’s site currently has 20 million visits per month. With a presence in more than 20 cities nationwide, it’s the most recognized brand in the Brazilian real estate market.

Viva Real was launched in 2009. The company grew to approximately 600 people, and today, its headquarters in Sao Paulo occupy an entire building. In six years, Viva Real received more than US$ 70 million through six investment rounds from various local and American funds, such as Monashees, Kaszek, Valiant, Dragoneer, Spark Capital and Lead Edge.

The recently launched Grupo ZAP Viva Real began operations with approximately 40 million monthly site visits and more than 7 million properties, making it a clear leader in its category. The group’s products and services are not limited to the media market, but are instead part of a portfolio of solutions for the entire real estate value chain. The companies DataZAP and Geoimovel, with a focus on data and intelligence products, and Sub100 and suahouse, providers of management systems for the real estate market, are also joining the real estate portal.

“The strongest brand in the market, brought by ZAP, and a relationship with the real estate market, Viva Real’s focus, are what make us stand out. The scale we have achieved not only positions us as a leading company in the industry, but also gives us the responsibility to be agents of this market’s transformation,” says Lucas Vargas, who acted as the CEO of Viva Real and is now the CEO of Grupo ZAP Viva Real.

Beyond the numbers, the agreement has brought on big names from the real estate industry sector, including new board member Greg Waldorf, who acted as an advisor to the American portal Trulia, which was purchased by rival company Zillow for US$ 3.5 billion.

Grupo Globo continues to closely follow and actively participate in the new group’s operation. Eduardo Schaeffer, who served as CEO of ZAP until the deal closed, joins Mr. Requarth as the Co-Chair of the group’s Board of Directors. Schaeffer says the group’s focus on bringing efficiency, transparency and liquidity to the market was shared by the companies even before the deal. “The group has taken an important step in resolving the pain points experienced by the various stakeholders who participate in the real estate market. We are obsessed with building a more satisfying and efficient process,” said Schaeffer.

Brian Requarth, co-founder of Viva Real, preceded Vargas as the head of the company and is Co-Chairman of the group’s Board of Directors. “The merged companies will be led by a strong board that has a clear vision and single objective: be synonymous with real estate in Brazil,” said Requarth.

Jorge Nóbrega, executive vice-president of Grupo Globo, says that Viva Real and ZAP became a strength in data intelligence, an important component of digital services. “We knew how to preserve ZAP’s relevance in real estate market. Our newspapers contributed greatly to this accomplishment over the course of the last decades, as we developed the greatest services to the clients by the best technologies in digital enviroment. For us, that’s an exemple of the reason why digital revenues to media companies will become even more important. This alliance is the future”, said Nóbrega.